Operation Beautiful

I never thought the Above words would touch me so much as they have today. My friends and I went for our usual run with a twist today! Mile Repeats TIMES 5!! The last mile was rough for all of us but they all held through for me! I have never felt a closer bond to anyone as I feel with my running group. We talk about everything, can be silly with each other, whatever we want to do and that is the fun part!

After our run today we went to Ophelia's Cafe. This place is a gorgeous little cafe nestled in the Village of Liverpool, NY. Their mission is being "committed to empowering individuals, families, and communities to redefine beauty and health through initiatives that increase self-esteem, improve body image and introduce alternatives to dangerous desires for perfection; and to providing outreach, advocacy and educational services to those impacted by eating disorders, disordered eating and body dissatisfaction."

Their Vision "To begin changing culture and to empower individuals, families, and communities to embrace health, beauty, and happiness at any shape and size and to share a message of body celebration"

THEIR VALUES

Led by FAITH in Jesus Christ


Offering LOVE and ACCEPTANCE

Encouraging PERSONAL GROWTH

We RESOLVE to make a difference

INTEGRITY

Show RESPECT

Promote a sense of COMMUNITY

Live with PASSION
 
We stop here every Sunday and everyone is so nice and friendly and welcoming. Its truely one of my favorite places. As we sat down over our cup of Joe, I saw a flyer on the table that caught my eye. It read National Eating Disorders Awareness Week is Feb 20-26 and in recognition of this week they we starting early by Celebrating "Operation Beautiful" Transforming the way you see yourself one post-it note at a time.
 
As I posted in Previous Writings, I took Diet pills, Had activated Charcoal Shoved down my throat as I took too many, Did it all, So this touched me deeply.
 
The goal: to end negative self talk or "fat" talk. All you need is a pen and a piece of paper...leaving positive messages on the mirrors of public bathrooms- At work, teh gym, grocery store. Wherever! Scribble down whatever comes to your mind!
 
What an awesome concept. See more at http://www.operationbeautiful.com/
 
As I was thinking about this, the song from PINK (Perfect) Came on. It made me have tears in my eyes as this song describes how I feel somedays. But Im not LESS than Perfect, Im perfect to me!! Thats my motto and Im sticking to it!
 
Hope you all had a great week, Tomorrow Ill post the details of the Last week!!

Am I Addicted to Sugar??

I have a few patients that I can easily point out in my head that have asked me this. They have come to me stating they cant lose weight, they crave sweets all day, they are cranky if they don't have sweets. Hmmm...is it true?~~ Is there such a thing as Sugar addiction?!

Sure you have heard on Alcohol addiction, drug addiction, smoking addiction. But Sugar addiction?! Yes it is true. There has been proven studies showing that there is such a thing!

An October 2003 issue of “Brain Briefings” from the Society for Neuroscience suggested that “some brain actions and characteristics associated with the intake of sweets and drug addiction may overlap”, chiefly in the area of the brain’s opioid receptors. The article suggested that sweets may activate a similar biochemical system of incentives and rewards that leads to addiction of substances like heroin and other opiates in the brain.

Interesting huh?

The reason why I say this is because these can lead to more serious problems down the road such as Diabetes, Obesity, Hypertension, High Cholesterol. What is interesting is they say there is a link also between sugar and the way your body fights infection. Consider the non compliant diabetic who comes in and always has non-healing ulcers. The link is there. See when there is excess sugar in the body bacteria thrive on it so the body never heals unless the cycle is broken.

I have told my patients they arent crazy and their symptoms are true symptoms.

The hard part is managing them. Withdrawl is just like coming off of caffeine. Sugar levels drop and moodiness and irritability can set in. Anxiety, tremors, headaches and cravings are all normal in Sugar withdrawl.

People who are trying to break their Sugar addiction (Like I am, BTW) Should take a more natural approach. Eat more Fruits and Vegetables and YES, more protein! I also tell my patients EXERCISE!! It is the best Natural high there is! It releases endorphins and your body is more efficient at metabolism after exercise!

Now to hop on that Trainer!!

Happy Training!!

Diet Crashers

They Lurk, Waiting to Ruin you, take you down their unhealthy path. Im sure you know what Im talking about. The coworkers that talk about where they are going for lunch and if you want to join them. Panera Bread, Chinese, Salsarita's(Mexican), Pizza.
Also the snacks, Monkey Bread, Chocolate, Cookies...I am in a world of unhealthiness even though I work at a doctors office.

I have to resist my urge to say YES to all the unhealthy habits of those around me. My weaknesses can take me over, but Im not going to let it. I have a mission, a goal, a accomplishment I want to acheive.

Crunch, Crunch..ooo these homemade apple crisps are soooo good.